Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Remember when Texas Congressman Blake Farenthold promised to reimburse the public for the $84,000 of taxpayer dollars he used to settle a sexual harrassment case against him?

Or, in his words: "Hand a check over this week to probably [U.S. House Speaker Paul] Ryan or somebody."

It's now been four weeks since Farenthold told Corpus Christi's KRISTV he'd be taking out a personal loan to pay the public back within a week — and we're still waiting on that check.

According to CNN, Farenthold has decided to wait and see if the House changes the Congressional Accountability Act before handing over the money. Basically, Farenthold's waiting to see if there's a chance he won't have to pay at all due to new rules on how members of Congress can use taxpayer dollars.

A reminder: Farenthold doled out $84,000 to settle a sexual harrassment case against him brought by a former staffer. According to former communications staffer Lauren Greene, the congressman told her about his "wet dreams," made jokes about semen on her clothing, and shared details of him and his wife's sex life.

The $84,000 was meant to keep Greene's lawsuit from going to what would have likely been a very messy, very public trial for Farenthold. Luckily, he had taxpayer's bailout cash to save him the embarrassment – until now.

After these claims — and other sexual harassment accusations — against him bubbled up in November, Farenthold begrudgingly announced his retirement. And, despite his heartfelt TV promises, he may take the public's bailout with him.